Courtesy photo.
CAMARILLO — The “Hallelujah Chorus” from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” will be part of the “Holiday Spectacular” winter concert performed by the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) University Chorus with the Santa Paula High School Concert Choir.
Concert dates are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 25 N. Las Posas Road in Camarillo, and Sunday, Dec. 5 at 3p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 1338 E. Santa Clara Street in Ventura.
The songs are “glorious and uplifting,” according to Conductor and Assistant Professor of Performing Arts KuanFen Liu, who holds a doctorate in Musical Arts.
“The Messiah is an appropriate piece to bring back after so many months without live, in-person performance,” Liu said. “It is something that has resonated with humankind and inspired people for centuries.”
Also, onstage to sing excerpts of the Messiah with the chorus will be the Santa Paula High School Choir. The Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra will accompany the singers.?The program also includes?excerpts from Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna” and Camille Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony #3.
“My goal is to disseminate music to as many people as possible, to all generations, but especially students,” Liu said. “These high school students get to know about our choir and our University, and they know they can come to us and ask questions about the Performing Arts program at CSUCI.”
This will be their first in-person concert since winter of 2019, and portions of the performance will be a preview of the show Liu and members of the chorus will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 25, 2022.
“Carnegie Hall is the performance venue of a lifetime,” said Performing Arts major Sabrina Moreno, who sings soprano in the CSUCI Choir. “To be among the world’s renowned performers who have sung in Carnegie Hall is really a dream! The opportunity to experience this gives me an added sense of pride and accomplishment in myself as a musician.”
Liu was invited to conduct at Carnegie Hall by Los Angeles conductor Stephen Pu, whom she met when she was one of 11 conductors selected to conduct at the Oregon Bach Festival in 2006. Pu works for a production company that puts on choral works in the Carnegie and thought Liu would make an excellent guest conductor. Liu received the call on Jan. 7, 2021.
“He called me on my birthday!” Liu said with a laugh. “My first thought was that somebody was playing a joke on me.”
Liu will conduct a choir comprised of 20 students and 40 community members from the Channel Islands University Chorus, 17 from Santa Paula High and 17 from the Ventura High School Choirs. There will be 20 more singers from the Kirkland Choral Society in Washington State.
The chorus will be accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble, which is about 60 musicians strong.
Among the pieces Liu plans to perform at the Carnegie Hall is “Lux Aeterna,” which the choir will perform this weekend at the Holiday Spectacular.
“‘Lux Aeterna’ means ‘eternal light,’” Liu explained. “My idea to open the concert with a song about eternal light is intentional during this time. It will have been 21 months since we have sung together, a lot of people lost their loved ones during the pandemic. The eternal light gives us hope. It can seem so dark at times, but there is always light, that lives within each one of us — and it is never extinguished.”
Concert-goers ages 12 and older attending the performances will need to show proof of vaccination. Face coverings will be required to be worn by everyone.
Tickets are a suggested $20 donation and are only available at the door. All seats are first-come, first-serve. For more information, visit www.cicachoir.org or the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra at www.chicovc.org.
About California State University Channel Islands — CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is reimagining higher education for a new generation and era. We are an innovative higher education institution that enables students to succeed and thrive – serving as an engine for social and economic vitality that provides the intellectual resources necessary for a thriving democracy. With more than 7,000 students, 1,200 employees and 14,000 alumni, CSUCI is poised to grow in size and distinction, while maintaining one of the most student-focused learning environments in public higher education. Connect with and learn more by visiting www.csuci.edu or CSUCI’s Social Media.
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